There were many wild spirits among his comrades, but none who displayed such an irrepressible and reckless disposition as William Bucholz.

His uncle, loving him as a son, and whose union had been blessed with no children, forgave his follies and liquidated his debts without a murmur, but shook his head frequently in a doubtful manner, as rumors reached him of some new exploit in which William had been a leading spirit, or some fresh scandal in which he was a prominent participant.
The family of Bucholz, with that weakness which sometimes characterizes the relative of the wealthy, soon began to display a coolness and dislike toward the wife of the uncle, and as no children were born to them, they looked forward with certainty to inheriting the vast wealth of their childless relative, without seeming to regard the rights or interests of the wife, who, in Germany as well as in America, frequently exercises a potent influence in the disposition of her husband's affairs.
That this conduct was displeasing to the woman who had brought so much wealth into the family may readily be imagined, and being possessed of sufficient spirit to resent the affronts put upon her, she did not tamely submit to be thus ignored by the supercilious relatives of her husband, but determined to be revenged upon them in a manner which she knew would be complete and satisfactory to herself.
Among her numerous friends was the widow of a captain of hussars, who had been in the same regiment with Bucholz, but who had died a short time before, leaving his sorrow-stricken wife without sufficient income for her support, and with the care of an only son who had been born to them in their brief married life.

To this lady William's aunt immediately offered her house as a home, and promised to take care of her child's education and provide for its future.

This offer was gratefully accepted by the bereaved and impecunious widow, who, with her child, soon became domiciled beneath the roof of the uncle and the socially abused aunt.
As the boy grew into years he displayed so many traits of a noble, manly character and of a fond and loving disposition, that the hearts of the aged couple instinctively warmed towards him with an abiding affection, and the mother dying soon after, he was formally adopted by them.
The uncle continued, however, to supply the wants of his prodigal and degenerate nephew, but they increased so enormously that he was forced to remonstrate with the young man upon the recklessness of his conduct.

His remonstrances were met with a spirit of impertinence and defiance that angered the old gentleman to such an extent that he declined at once to pay any further debts of his nephew's contracting, and limited his allowance to a sum which, while sufficiently large to provide for his actual needs, afforded no opportunities for lavish outlays or indiscreet dissipations.
This action excited the ire of William and his family, who did not hesitate to ascribe it to the promptings of the wife, whom they had so consistently ignored, and whose feelings they had so frequently outraged.
The relations between the brothers ceased to be friendly, and an estrangement took place which was increased by the family of Bucholz, who spoke every where in the most disrespectful terms of the wife of the brother.
While matters were in this position the uncle was suddenly attacked with a malady which resulted in his death.